File Save As
by Cygna-hime
Summary: Anyone who knows anything about computers knows to make a backup file. Noa's just happens to be gigantic, difficult to run, and in the hands of Pegasus Crawford. [AU]


**Disclaimer: I am, and always will remain, not Kazuki Takahashi. I do not own YuGiOh, or much else for that matter. I merely splash my feet in the pool of fiction. And kill myself for the bad metaphor.**

**Notes: I believe this to be the first fic of its type. What type? It is not important. Let's just say I contributed to the Official 'Ship List for a purpose, and leave it at that. It doesn't matter for a while.**

**This is an Alternate Timeline brand of AU; it sprouted from contemplation of prudence as regards computer use, and that wonderful thing we call a backup file...**

File: Save As

Prologue: Download

The e-mail came when Pegasus Crawford was in his office, looking through dozens of official messages to see which ones warranted his personal reply and which could be delegated to a secretary. At first glance, he was inclined to dismiss the e-mail as a plea, real or sham, for charity, when his eye fell on the sender's address: nkaiba kaibacorp . com. He knew enough about that family that the message immediately found itself subject to intense scrutiny. It looked like just a simple text message…from someone who should no longer be able to send one. It ought, by rights, to be impossible, and yet there it was, sitting and waiting to be read. "Help me," read the subject line. How could he be expected to resist curiosity?

Pegasus opened the message. It read:

_Dear Mr. Crawford,_

_ I know you aren't expecting this, but I remember you and I hope you remember me. It is me; I'm not as dead as you think. My father downloaded my mind into the KaibaCorp mainframe when I died. I have been here since._

_ I need your help. It seems more than likely that the computer housing my mind is about to be destroyed. I would prefer not to die a second time. Will you help me? I can send you a copy of my data to be saved on the I2 system. I know you can do that. You can bring me back, if anyone can. Maybe Mokuba will help. It would be worth your while._

_ I don't have much time. Will you save me?_

_ Noa Kaiba._

Pegasus stared at the message. Succinct, simple, almost childish in its phrasing; every word evoked the image of a boy he had met before, grown in complete isolation. He wanted, oddly, to be worthy of the simple trust that Noa—he no longer doubted that it was truly he—had placed in him. Part of his mind declared it impossible. There was that, too: achieving the impossible had always held a compelling challenge.

He glanced at the end of the e-mail. There would be time to consider ways and means in more detail later. Time was apparently of the essence. Briskly, he clicked 'Reply'.

_I will._

The two word said all that seemed to need saying. He sent his reply, and almost immediately a second e-mail arrived, vastly larger than the first. The body of the message also contained only to words.

_Thank you._

Pegasus found space for the attached file on a new server he had, fortunately, not yet had time to fill with the records he had planned for it. Even with the most efficient computers available, the download took almost ten minutes, every second of which Pegasus spent wondering if he had been in time. At long last, every last bit was safely stored and awaiting his command.

Advanced as they were, the Industrial Illusions computers had no capacity to the run the program necessary to open Noa's file, so Pegasus left it strictly alone. His only action was to adjust the server until it would only respond to him. The KaibaCorp file could only opened by KaibaCorp technology, but he had no idea how it would respond to someone else trying. It was better to let it be until he could find someone who knew.

Unfortunately, someone who knew better could only be another Kaiba, and Pegasus did not relish the prospect of dealing with them again. It would be foolish to even try without at least some idea of how to proceed. He ought rather take care of his company, and consider the best way to approach the brothers Kaiba later.

Still, Pegasus had no more than half a mind on his work that day, while the other half thought up and rejected countless methods, plots, and strategies. By the end of the day, he thought he knew how to deal with the Kaiba family. All of them.

Honesty might just turn out to be the best policy.

**to be continued...**

**Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would appreciate suggestions, especially about technological terms, since I have yet to find a beta to catch my errors. If anyone would be willing to beta my YuGiOh fiction, please do contact me. I would appreciate it a great deal.**

**Enjoy your day/week/month/year/lifetime!**


End file.
